When automobiles and for that matter other vehicles, such as trucks, tractors, and vans, are involved in a collision, the bodies which are usually made of steel or aluminum often suffer significant damage. In many instances it becomes necessary to pry apart body sections, or body panels in order to permit refabrication and repair.
Hand tools are available for carrying out impact blows to bend, and shape the various structural sections. These hand tools resemble chisels. Thus, for ease and convenience, they will be referred to as chisels. They have an elongated shank connected to a head portion and are generally held in one hand while a hammer or mallet held in the other hand of the user delivers an impact blow to the proximal end of the shank of the chisel-like tool.
One of the problems encountered in their use is that in many instances there is insufficient room or space within which to maneuver to raise one's first arm to deliver a "heavy" blow to the chisel which is held in the user's second hand. Unfortunately high impact is what is needed to straighten bent structural components. Typical areas of confined working conditions include the interior of the trunk of a car, under the dashboard of any vehicle, or within the engine compartment of any vehicle for example when working on the fire wall. There is indeed therefore a need for a high impact providing tool that is capable of being used within a confined operating environment.
A search was carried out of the prior art and applicant has become aware of the following U.S. patent references:
______________________________________ 0,280,995 Armstrong 2,629,985 McDowell 0,503,298 Teufel 2,754,585 Green 1,067,658 Joyce 3,769,682 Carver 1,229,732 Erickson 4,745,671 Shannon 1,665,109 Nelson 5,090,102 Lovell 1,958,329 Beard ______________________________________
None of these patents taken individually nor considered in combination render this invention old or obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
It is an object therefore of this invention to provide a new impact tool for use by vehicular body and fender repair persons on beams and other structural components.
It is another object to provide an impact tool usable in confined work spaces.
It is yet another object to provide an impact tool that features a weighted nestable impact driving member.
It is a further object to provide an impact tool with interchangeable heads to carry out different types of bending and straightening.
It is a yet further object to provide an impact tool for the vehicular body repair industry that replaces the hammer and a multiplicity of chisels and which includes built in safety features.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the device possessing the features properties and the relation of components which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.